Sensory Integration and Family Relationships

I have been doing my observations for this internship class at an afterschool program at a private school in Normal, IL.  This has been a very interesting, busy, and trying couple weeks for me during this class.  I had decided to change my focus for the paper at the last minute.  I was finding that my topic was way too broad and needed to be changed.  After talking with several people at my internship site and people that I work with I decided that my focus needed to change.  I am now focusing on sensory processing disorder.  I have found that this disease affects more children than we think.  I also think that the tools and treatments that we as teachers would use in the classroom for sensory processing disorder are good tools to know about when dealing with all children. 

One of the students in the afterschool program was a former student of mine.  I found it very interesting that even though he was in my class almost three years ago both he and his mother still recognized me.  This was the student had originally inspired me to research this topic.  I had worked with his mother and this student to find out what was going on with him.  His mother told me what a remarkable difference she had seen in her son since he was able to get his IEP for school and to receive occupational therapy. I was great to see how much the student had changed and how much he had improved.

One insight that I learned was how important we are in the lives of all of our students.  You never know the impact that you will have on a student even at a young age.  Another insight that I learned from doing the research this week for this paper was how important our roles as teachers are in helping out children.  It is our job to speak out when there is something that needs to be changed and when there is something that we can do about it.  I have come to realize that the most important thing we can do is to be informed.  When we are informed about issues then we can help to inform others as well.

Professional/ Administative Insights

I have been doing my internship in an afterschool program at a private daycare in Normal.  The daycare center is affiliated with Epiphany Elementary School, a private school in the Bloomington-Normal area.  I originally chose this setting because I was interested in finding out how different the public school system and the private school system where in helping kids with special needs.  I met with the director at this center to discuss some of the issues that are related to children with special needs.

My focus in the special education field is in the mental health side of the field.  I am focusing more specifically on how to address and seek treatment for these children.  I work in a private daycare as well and have struggled on where to start when looking of resources to help with a child.  Where do you start and how do you get that child help without having to pay enormous fees to get it.  There was one child that I was trying to get assessed in one of my classes.  I looked into getting help for this child and looked to Easter Seals to help.  I found out all of the wonderful programs and help that they could provide, and then I got the estimated bill.  $100 per hour with a minimum of four hours required that would be billed to our center.  While I still felt this program had the most to offer it was financially not a possibility.  

I spoke with the director about some of these issues, including where they turn for help.  She was very helpful in recommending some different areas to look into when seeking out help for mental health in children.  She has told me how their center had used people through Easter Seals as well and were very pleased with how they were handled.  However, they are funded by the private school and have allotted funds for things like this.  Also, she recommended getting the parents on board first because some of they do provide financial assistance to families that need it.  The financial responsibility falls on the party that initiates the contact with them.  She also emphasized how important communication between administrators, teachers, parents, and the assessors for the process to go smoothly to benefit the child he most.